How do you guys keep track of lesson payments...

[mesavox]

Does anyone have a cool spreadsheet template that keeps track of who has paid for guitar lessons you teach?

I am going to ask for a month in advance to cover prep time and any unforeseen expenses, as well as to keep from having a zillion checks to keep track of.

I was thinking something that is a kind of attendence sheet that has a place to check if a month is paid or not (I'm sure there will be times people can't pay a full month from time to time, so I'd like to keep track of how many weeks they owe for too.)

I've been looking at templates to modify but my head is starting to spin. lol

[Grand Wazoo]

You need a small database, rather than a spreadsheet.

It has to be simple with every "card" holding a basic set of fields as follows:

Student Name:
Address:
Phone No.:
Course Started:
Lessons: weekly / Monthly
Payment per lesson:
Lesson Fee:
Received date:
Amount:
Cumulative Amount:

[mesavox]

silly question, but how do I get started with that? LOL I don't have a database program. I thought of maybe using Entourage to create meetings and somehow keep track of what is paid by exporting to a spreadsheet or something...

[Grand Wazoo]

If your pc has Microsoft Office, there will be a launch button for Microsoft Access which is a database program, otherwise you can download some free similar apps from third parties, they are very simple to work with, and most of them have tutorials.

Good luck

[robelinda2]

Its not hard to do, I teach 60+ students a week, most students pay the full amount at the start of the term, I have a little database to keep track, never had any problems. I keep a detailed diary too, with all relevant information. I cant afford to be slack with any aspect of my teaching.

[Peter_Grant]

I let my students keep track, but for the most part they're responsible adults.

[DrKev]

Holy fluffed diminished chords, batman! Rob, how the heck do you do 60+ students in a week? (Aside, obviously, from being the best teacher around). How many are group classes?

You are now officially my hero.

[robelinda2]

Hah! None are group lessons, I dont agree with the notion of wasting students money on a group situation. Around 60 is the maximum I teach, i'm just too buggered with any more than that. I'm going to scale back to around 45 soon, but hey got a family to feed and a mortgage to pay and MANY guitars to buy! My teaching setup is simple really, I have my own teaching studio, I teach from like 3:30pm to 9:30 Monday to Thursday, and all day Saturday. I have all the weekdays free to spend being a dad.